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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

"Wow, I Never Would Have Known"

Yesterday I gave my police presentation to officers going through the Crisis Intervention Team training and at the end I had an unexpected conversation that included the quote that is the title of this post.

This conversation was a first for me as this officer had seen me outside the Police Academy. Amazingly enough he remembered me from bowling at the bowling alley several years ago. Furthermore we weren't even in the same league. This may have been true but after my presentation, regarding myself being on the autism spectrum, he said, "Wow, I never would have known you were on the autism spectrum".

In my presentations I state, very clearly I might add, that if you were to see me outside of this environment in an open ended situation you may not recognize me.

By this point in time four other officers had joined in the discussion as the day's worth of classes were over, but truly they were interested and wanted to know more. I'm used to this in other forums, but after yesterday's post about the rollercoaster of emotions this was a much needed and much welcomed event.

The officer wanted to know how I function at the bowling alley so I told him that I have bowled there for over a decade and have been on the same team, somewhat, for the entire time. Instantly he picked up on my concepts and asked, "If you had to change teams then I am willing to bet you would not bowl, correct?" I stated something along the lines of that I might bowl, but it would be difficult.

I also added the fact that my favorite thing to do in the social setting of the bowling alley is to work on the South County Times crossword puzzle. Most people socialize at the bowling alley and while I do too I also have my crossword puzzle to fall back on.

This story, I feel, is a great example of the potential issues people like myself may have. In the right situation we will create an image that will make someone state, "Wow, I never..." but if the safe environment we are used to gets changed then it may become obvious. I think back to what my teachers told my dad at parent teacher conferences, "Well, Aaron doesn't socialize to well with other students, but perhaps he is just smarter so don't worry about it."

I'm sure most people outside of the readers of this blog would have a hard time picking up the behaviors of a person with Asperger's Syndrome; and why should they? If there is no reason to know it, or have been exposed to it, how would they know? If a person sees us in our element, or as I like to call it, "Kansas" they may always have the, "I never..." mindset. It is when the world throws us a curve and knocks us out of this that it will become apparent and then this is where confusion may set in and this is where education of the world is needed.

It is so hard to explain in a few sentences, and it is even harder when under stress, that I am on the autism spectrum. Yesterday I went to the DMV to try and register my car and as I finally, FINALLY, got my number called I was already frazzled. This was caused by the fact that I was a kid magnet and these three kids were running around my chair screaming like the end of the world was near. When the screaming trio left I was called and I went up to the lady who called my number, set my papers down, and clearly stated that, "I have a form of autism and I am frazzled right now." This got a puzzled look, but after a few seconds her tone changed and she became very helpful.

I think this was the first time I came out of the box with stating what I have and that I am having issues. The DMV story happened before the officer's presentation but I found it amazing that I did this because I knew the cashier lady would not think anything was off except maybe some sort of suspicious behavior on my part due to lack of eye contact and odd movements.

Wow, I wanted a three to five paragraph article and now I have no clue how long this is. I also don't know if I proved my point or added points I had no intentions of making. I think the bottom line is that the public as a whole may see us in our element and suspect nothing, but when the curveball gets thrown and people like myself have issues the public may scratch their heads and wonder, "What just happened" before they learn what really happened and then say, "Wow, I never would have known".

3 comments:

Aaron, My son was diagnosed with Aspergers in January and you have cleared up so many questions I had about him that I thought could never be answered. I heard you speak at SSD last week and feel so empowered with the knowledge you have given me through that night and now through your book and your blog.I noticed you will be back in STL on April 12. I will be bringing lots of friends and family that spend time with my son so they can understand him better too.I can't thank you enough!Chris V.

Police officers are different from helping professionals. I will tell you an experience I had when I met my school based OT clinical instructor for the first time. She was with me for about an hour. However, she already noticed the signs. Yet, she felt I would be OK. The last two statements were what she told me at my final evaluation. Why she is so good? It's because she did LOTS of clinical observations and has worked with numerous kids with autism. So, someone like that has a trained eye for autism comparing to police officers because helping professionals generally have a lot more experiences with this population (even if they may not work in pediatrics settings).

Who I Am

Hello, my name is Aaron Likens and thanks for visiting my blog. I am the Autism Ambassador for Easter Seals Midwest and also the author of the book "Finding Kansas. My passion in life is to raise the awareness and understanding of the autism spectrum through this blog as well as the many presentations I give. For myself, as much as it is a passion, it is personal because I was given the diagnosis of Asperger's when I was 20. Back then there wasn't much info and I fell into a pit of despair. I stayed there for 15 months but then I eventually discovered myself through writing and now here I am and here you are on my blog. There are well over 1,000 posts on this blog as I started blogging in March of 2010. So whether you're reading today's blog, or are skimming through stories of the past, I hope that your time here gives you a better glimps of what living life on the autism spectrum, or, "other side of the wall" is like. If you do like what you see please follow me on Facebook as that's where I share when I've written a new blog as well as announcing where I will be presenting. Please note that the opinions expressed on this blog are mine and may not be reflective of Easter Seals Midwest.

The Sunglasses Experiment

I ran a sunglasses experiment to judge why eye contact is so difficult. I wore them for about 15 days, then I switched back to my normal glasses to see how big of a difference there was. By clicking my picture you can be taken to the page that has the complete experiement all in one place.

About Me

I am the Autism Ambassador for Easter Seals Midwest and also the author of Finding Kansas: Living and Decoding Asperger's Syndrome. My passion in life is raising awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders and to help the world understand how the mind of a person on the spectrum works. I can do this because I am on the spectrum (Asperger's).
I was diagnosed at the age of 20 and after the diagnosis a lot of my quirks made sense. I didn't understand who I was though and went into a deep depression. Through this depression though I became very keen on my inner self and I started to write. I wrote and I wrote and before I knew it I wrote a book.
5 years later I am, among other things, giving presentations to police, teachers, and parents and am now starting my quest on making the best blog possible!
The views on this blog are mine and may not be reflective of Touch Point Autism Services.
If you have any questions, or comments, or have an article idea please email me at aaron.likens@yahoo.com.